


wishing on dandelions

by youresomoneybaby



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Henelope brotp, Josie works at a bookshop, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Penelope and Jed are cousins, Penelope is a florist, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:27:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29048400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youresomoneybaby/pseuds/youresomoneybaby
Summary: “Excuse me?” Penelope cocked a brow at the man in front of her. He was tall, hair shaved close to the scalp and a smile whiter than she’d ever seen. Judging by the shine on his oxfords and the way his pants were pressed, this was a boy that was used to getting his way with little effort.“I need you to write a love note for me. It’s for my girlfriend, kind of. She’s not my girlfriend yet but I’m working on that part. I need something that’ll wow her socks off so she’ll finally say yes to another date. She likes roses, I saw her wear one in her hair once.”ORPenelope is no stranger to odd requests as a florist, so when a customer begs her to write a love note on behalf of them one day, she reluctantly accepts. Little does she know, writing love letters is easy, trying not to fall in love with the girl she's writing to is harder.Inspired by the prompt w/a lil twist: A florist who writes notes on behalf of a client, only to find that the recipient has fallen in love with them instead
Relationships: Penelope Park & Josie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 77
Kudos: 190





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Dandelions by Ruth B bc I heard it in a posie edit one time.

Penelope started working at Flowers in the Park when she was sixteen. In the beginning it took a lot of begging and bargaining from her cousin Jed before she gave in and said yes, after all she was sixteen! At sixteen, all she wanted to do was go to parties and kiss cute girls, sometimes the occasional guys. What she didn’t expect when she first started the job that summer was how much she came to love it. She loved the process of learning what meaning each flower held, the different types of arrangements and how to perfectly spread out the flowers. 

Working with her favorite cousin was also a plus. Being that they were the same age and attended the same high school at the time, they were always on the same shifts both in and out of school. It lessened the blow when she found herself unable to hangout with friends or stay late at the bi-monthly bonfire because she had to open the next morning, she wasn’t alone. While Jed’s interest in the shop never came anywhere near that of Penelope’s, he still stuck around even after they graduated high school. His hours were cut down after he decided to enroll in college to pursue music and to her surprise, her aunt promoted her to manager as a result. 

“I know how much you love Parks, sweetie. Your interest always surpassed that of just a job for you. Jed couldn’t care less if he cut the stems straight on a bouquet.” Her aunt exasperated, as if the thought of not cutting on a bias physically pained her. 

In the four years she worked at Parks, she’d seen many customers. The typical customers that came in to find flowers for their loved ones to either; profess love, make an apology or simply to make their partner smile. (Those were her favorite). With every arrangement came the option of writing a note, it didn’t have to be anything fancy. Some people just signed their names, drew a picture or even opted for the prewritten ones that the store purchased online.

What she had never seen was a customer  _ beg  _ her to write the note  _ for  _ them.

“Excuse me?” Penelope cocked a brow at the man in front of her. He was tall, hair shaved close to the scalp and a smile whiter than she’d ever seen. Judging by the shine on his oxfords and the way his pants were pressed, this was a boy that was used to getting his way with little effort.

“I need you to write a love note for me. It’s for my girlfriend, kind of. She’s not my girlfriend  _ yet  _ but I’m working on that part. I need something that’ll wow her socks off so she’ll finally say yes to another date.”

Penelope blinked once, twice before scoffing. “I think this girl would much prefer it if you were the one writing the note, sir.” The man waved her off with one hand while the other dug into his pockets for his wallet. He plucked out a shiny black credit card and slammed it onto the counter, his expression smug with a hint of irritation.

“Please. Just write it like you were writing to your own lover. I made sure to leave the tip section blank for you. She likes roses, I saw her wear one in her hair once.” 

++

That was how she found herself outside of some girl she never met’s apartment door with her hands full of roses. Normally she wouldn’t be the one making deliveries, most clients would wait until their arrangement was done in the store and take it home with them just like that. Rafael claimed that he was already running late for some meeting and couldn’t give the flowers to the girl himself. Jed was already on another order so that just left her.

“Who is it?” A voice from the other side of the door called out. 

Penelope cleared her throat before responding, “Special delivery!” Was that what they were supposed to say? She had only ever gone on two deliveries herself since she’d much rather be the one  _ making  _ the arrangements. 

The door swung open a few seconds later revealing a tall and pretty brunette. Her hair was done up in a bun with two tendrils loose on either side of her face. She wore a collared shirt under a jacket, the edge of a store logo peeking out from under it and jeans. “Um, hi?” 

“Uh,” Penelope gaped. “Sorry, um. Special delivery for Josie S.” She said as she extended the flowers out towards her. The girl, Josie, took them from her, the tips of their fingers brushing for the briefest second. She watched as Josie plucked the card from the sea of red roses, cocked a brow and read the card aloud.

“ _ When I can’t say it with words, look into my eyes and you’ll find infinite true love I can’t vocalize. Love, Rafael. _ ” She turned her attention to Penelope then, lips pressed together before breathing out a sigh.

The silence that settled over them was awkward, so naturally, Penelope did what she did best in the situation. She initiated conversation, bowing her head slightly to try and meet Josie’s eyes. “He insisted on the red roses. He said they were your favorite.” 

Josie scoffed. “Typical Raf,” She rolled her eyes before looking up to meet Penelope’s. “I’ve told him before that roses aren’t my favorite but he keeps getting me rose everything  _ just  _ because I wore one in my hair at a dance in high school.” Another sigh. “It wasn’t even red either.”

The darker haired girl smirked, finding amusement in just how so out of tune some people could be in people that they claim to have feelings for. “Well, what do you think about the card? Surely the whole arrangement wasn’t for naught?” It definitely wasn’t her place to be so nosy and she usually wasn’t. After all, this girl was a total stranger to her and she had no obligation to still be on her doorstep. There was just something about this Josie that peaked her interest. 

“The poem is beautiful,” Josie said as their eyes met again. “Thank you..?”

“Penelope,” Her hand shot out instinctively along with her introduction but she quickly retracted it and offered a sheepish smile instead. 

“Your friendly neighborhood florist.” 

++

“There she is!” He said as he approached the counter, black card already in hand. “Whatever you did with that bouquet,  _ thank you. _ It totally made her swoon! She agreed to a date.” Penelope forced the best smile she could in hopes that playing along would get him to go away.

It didn’t.

“If things with your girl are all sunshines and rainbows then what brings you into my shop?” She tried to say as politely as possible. She didn’t even know why she was trying because 90% of Rafael’s attention was focused on typing away at his phone anyway. 

“I gotta keep the girl happy, right? Haven’t you ever heard of happy wife happy life?” He pocketed the phone after a few more taps on the screen and slid over the credit card to her. “She’s totally into me now, I know it. She said that she couldn’t believe that I could write something so poetic and beautiful.” 

Penelope thought back to the poem  _ she _ ended up writing for  _ Josie. _ It wasn’t anything original. It was more the result of too much time spent on deliberating and an enthusiastic, “Fuck that guy, just google something and I guarantee he’ll think you’re a God.” from Jed, she did just that. 

“Happy to help.” 

“You’re doing more than help. You’re doing God’s work, helping me get laid. Which is why I need another. Tip’s blank again for ya.”

Selling herself out for money wasn’t something she thought she could stoop to. She made good money at Parks and having Jed as a roommate helped with the rent. But Rafael didn’t seem to care about how he spent his money nor did he even realize how much of it was being spent. 

_ My car  _ has  _ been making that noise for a while..  _

“Roses again?” 

++

“Hold on hold  _ on, _ you’re doing  _ what? _ ” Hope looked at her like she had grown two heads. Eyes wide and expression amused, Penelope could tell she was holding back a laugh. 

They were having their usual movie night consisting of pizza, soda and whatever was recently released online. Penelope bit into her slice, immediately washing it down with some cola. “Basically verbatim. You’re making sure I am getting some, so I need another.” 

“Oh my god, do you know what this means?” Hope giggled. Penelope’s shoulders sagged in defeat as she cringed.

“Please no, don’t say--”

“He’s basically paying for sex if you think about it. But, he’s paying  _ you  _ for it but not  _ getting  _ it from you? So I think that makes you kind of like, the pimp.  _ Ohmygodmybestfriendisapimp _ \--”

“I am  _ not  _ a pimp! Gah, say it any louder and your neighbors are gonna start giving us weird looks.” 

Hope waved her off before sinking her teeth into a slice of pepperoni. “They already do whenever they see me and Landon together. Mrs. Jeffrey thinks I deserve better.” 

Penelope held up her pointer finger and thumb a quarter of an inch apart. “Just a tad.” That earned her a slap on the arm to which she just laughed off. 

“Back to you though. How is it being a pimp to a girl you don’t even know what she looks like? It’s kind of messed up how disconnected employers are with their employees these days.” Hope said around her last bite of food. She flashed Penelope a playful grin and nudged her shoulder. “What a bad boss.” 

Wiping her hands clean of pizza, she laid back into the couch with a heavy sigh. “Make all the jokes you want. I’ve given myself a 200% tip each time and the guy doesn’t even blink an eye. At this rate, I could get a new car instead of fixing up the beater.” Of course that was an exaggeration. An extra hundred bucks every now and then wouldn’t be enough to change her life drastically. Just enough to let her get an extra day of takeout or splurge on a few extra hardcovers at the local bookstore, and that was fine with her. 

“Who am I to turn down a man in need?” 

++

Their routine came down to a tee. Every Friday almost on the dot, Rafael would burst into the shop with either the same stupid grin he had the second time he came, or a scowl so intense Penelope thought his face would be stuck like that. Every time he came it was the same spiel,  _ Josie’s this, Josie’s ignoring me, I had a work meeting and forgot about her open mic, I can’t believe I forgot!  _ He’d give Penelope his credit card, signed the receipt and left the tip blank.

Roses. It was always roses, too. Penelope offered to switch out the type of flowers or go for a different type of arrangement to change things up, but Rafael would just wave her off and tell her to just keep it the same because those were Josie’s favorite.  _ I know my girl. _

A new addition to her routine was the delivery. Every time Rafael had an order, Penelope always found herself to be the one at Josie’s doorstep, learning a little more about the girl she had been secretly writing love notes to from their short interactions. She learned that Josie liked to sing and often frequented the Mystic Grill’s open mic night that occurred twice a month. She had a fraternal twin sister named Lizzie that was supposedly,  _ insufferable and completely hates me for some reason.  _ She worked full time at a bookstore along with nannying a couple times a week for a little boy named Pedro.

To her knowledge, Josie had no idea that she was the one writing the notes and not Raf. All she did was deliver the flowers.

Their conversations were full of harmless flirting from Penelope’s end. From the beginning, she found out that Josie wasn’t interested in girls purely from the context clues from their conversations. Josie only ever mentioned boyfriends or guys that would try to win her over, never girls. Penelope would purposefully say a few flirty words or smile at her a certain way but the girl  _ never budged. _

Upon hearing that Josie worked at a bookstore in town, Penelope racked her brain for three solid days. She was no stranger to the two stores located in Mystic Falls so surely she had to have seen her at least once, right? She tried desperately to see if she could remember seeing a tall, beautiful brunette working at either store but only came up empty. After Hope told her that she looked like she was going to sprain her brain if she thought any harder, she dropped the subject all together.

...Until one late Saturday night. Penelope had just finished working overtime at the shop on a bridal arrangement. It took her several tries to get the arrangement right after the bride kept complaining about how she didn’t like the way the flowers were grouped together before deciding to change the types of flowers all together  _ again.  _ She had been so wrapped up in her work that she didn’t realize she only had an hour to get to the bookstore before it closed and pick up a present for Hope’s birthday. 

Hope wasn’t as big of a reader as Penelope was, but after coming across this certain book on an online forum, there was no way she couldn’t  _ not  _ get it. It was days of searching online and waiting for the book to come in until she got the email notifying her that Mystic Books finally got the order in. Now, she had a little less than an hour to run into town and pick up the book before the store closed. 

It was a terrible day for her car to not have started that morning so she was literally  _ running  _ twenty minutes into town in order to get there quick enough. Her heavy breathing and red faced demeanor earned her a suspicious look from the security guard but she just shook it off. She quickly made her way over to the New Selections shelf and…. there it was. 

She wished she could’ve held back the lopsided grin and embarrassing giggle that she accidentally let out as she reached for the book, but she physically had no control of it. 

She wished even harder that she at least held back the stupid giggle when she realized that she wasn’t  _ alone  _ in the aisle. To her left, just a few feet away was Josie who only looked at her with an amused expression to Penelope’s shocked one. If the redness from running all the way into town wasn’t enough, the blush from her embarrassment only made it worse. 

“Um.. You heard that laugh, didn’t you?” Penelope asked with a cringe. Josie laughed, a hearty one from the gut as she took the few steps over to her until they were standing face to face. It made Penelope smile. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone that you giggled like a schoolgirl when picking up a copy of,” Josie leaned over just a bit to catch a glance of the cover in Penelope’s hands. She maintained a respectable distance as she did so, but it was still close enough for Penelope to smell her perfume. Fruity and floral at the same time, fitting for the pretty girl in front of her. “ _ Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend? _ ”

Penelope’s jaw dropped, her mouth moving but no words coming out until Josie gave her another amused look. “It’s a birthday gift, for my best friend. I don’t, uh, I don’t usually read this kind of stuff I promise.” Another laugh from the brunette paired with a shrug.

“I’m not judging here, if you want to read about hot pterodactyl boyfriends go for it. Let me know how it is and if pterodactyl boyfriends are the way to go.” She had a couple books in her arms herself Penelope now realized. She also found herself stepping out of the aisle and following her towards the cashier as she continued talking. “The universe knows human boyfriends can suck big time anyways.” 

Penelope cocked a brow at this, trying to ignore the unsettling feeling that continued to solidify in her gut. “Ah,” She cleared her throat. “Well, I’ll be sure to get Hope’s review on the book once she finishes it. But being that mister,” She checked the back cover for a name. “Pyke, is still a guy in the end, there’s a high chance that he also sucks. Pterodactyl or not.” 

“Ooh, you’ve got me there. But in fairness I should say I also know that girls aren’t perfect either. What’re the odds that there’ll be a sequel called Hot Pterodactyl Girlfriend?” Oh? 

_ Maybe not all hope is lost… No, there’s no way. _

“Then you’ll be seeing me camp outside the store the night before release day. Count on it.” The two shared a laugh at that before Penelope gestured to the doors. “I better pay for this before the store closes. It’s nice to finally run into you at a place that isn’t your front door.”.

“It really was nice. You mentioned once that you came here often but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you either--”

“--Next in line!” The worker at the register interrupted then. Penelope would’ve rolled her eyes if she could, but the worker was someone she was fairly well acquainted with by now. Instead, she gave Josie a small wave and made her way to the counter.

“Find everything you were looking for?” 

“I think so.” Penelope smiled. 

++

Hope loved her gift. It took all of two seconds after unwrapping the gift for her to fall out of her chair laughing for at least five minutes. Penelope joined her of course, because Hope had that kind of laugh that was both infectious and just so odd sounding that you couldn’t help but laugh out of sheer shock or amusement. The two of them along with Landon flew down to New Orleans to spend some time with Hope’s family for her birthday weekend, something that they did every year no matter the circumstance. The Mikaelsons had a bad rep for ‘shady business dealings’ along with other questionable things, but they were nothing but kind to Penelope. 

After returning from New Orleans, she was immediately consumed with work once again. Being away for a few days was something she didn’t know she desperately needed, but it revived her drive and love for the store once more. She only had to make up a new arrangement two more times for the bridal party and every client after that was a breeze. 

It was a week after returning from her trip that she saw Rafael waddle into her shop. He was short with his words today, saying only that him and Josie were in a rough patch again and that he needed ‘the usual’ before storming out the door.

Normally, she would’ve listened. She would’ve stalked to the back, plucked out the best looking red roses they had that day and completed the order in just a few minutes tops. But there was something about the way Rafael acted that unsettled her. She felt bad that Josie had to put up with someone who just couldn’t seem to take a hint. From all their conversations, she never fully expressed that she was interested in Rafael’s advances. It was more like she tolerated them. 

So, she took it upon herself to change the order. Instead of picking red roses for what seemed like the billionth time, she chose white orchids and blue hyacinths and placed them in a mason jar with a little sea turtle on it. The note took a little longer to think of, but she ultimately settled on something that she thought fit best.

_ My apology is like glue _

_ It fixes the broken, which is me and you _

_ Let me apply some of it on us _

_ So we can make up without a fuss _

“Hey, Jed?” Penelope called out just as she was folding up the card and setting it on the flowers.

“Yeah?” He called out from the back. “What’s up?”

“I’m gonna make a delivery real quick, can you watch the front? Shouldn’t be gone too long.” 

The drive to Josie’s apartment was short. The apartment complex was only ten minutes away from town and not too far from her own place either. She just hoped Josie was home. As she walked up to the front door she felt a sudden wave of regret. Oh god, was this overstepping? The two of them weren’t close, they were barely friends. For all she knew, Penelope was just the delivery girl from the florist in town that wouldn’t stop trying to talk her up. She never wanted to be that girl that didn’t know when to stop trying to hit on a straight girl.

Oh man, she was  _ definitely  _ overstepping. There’s no doubt about it.  _ Fuck.  _

“Who’s there?” A voice she hoped wasn’t Josie’s called out from behind the door. Crap. Penelope spent so much time deliberating in her head that she didn’t realize she was already at the door and rang the bell.

She didn’t respond.

Penelope had to go and Josie couldn’t know that  _ she  _ was the one that delivered the flowers. Very quickly, set the flowers on the floor and booked it down the stairs and around the corner seconds before the door swung open. 

She overstepped boundaries, Penelope knew that. She took advantage of Josie’s kindness and let her be indulged during their little conversations. 

But that wasn’t going to happen anymore. 

After all, it was just wishful thinking.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine, we die like warriors.

“So you just left?” Jed asked with a mouthful of food. The two cousins sat across from each other in their apartment eating one of their ‘at least twice a week dinners’. They promised one another early on that having dinner together as a family as often as possible was a definite must. Sure, they worked  _ and  _ lived together already but having dinner was different. 

The store was usually so busy with orders and other managerial work, they rarely had the chance to talk much less gossip while working. Not to mention, dinner time talk was a bit more heavy. 

“Booked it out of there like Sonic,” Penelope shot her arm out for emphasis. When it didn’t earn her the laugh from Jed that she was expecting, she rolled her eyes. “What? How would you feel if you found out that the girl that delivers the flowers your  _ boyfriend  _ bought for you was a little more invested than she should be?” 

Jed shrugged. “My ego would be through the roof.” 

_ Oh my god.  _ “You’re missing the point! I made the mistake of letting myself be blinded by a girl with a cute smile and now I just feel stupid.”

“To be fair,” Her cousin pointed his fork at her. “Your first mistake was agreeing to write the love notes for the girl with a cute smile on behalf of a guy that’s trying to get into her pants.” 

If she could roll her eyes any harder, she would. Alternatively, she picked up her dish and Jed’s nearly empty one and began to clean up. “It’s whatever. I’ve already decided that I’m going to nip it in the bud.” Pun intended. “Josie most likely doesn’t like girls, and despite what I’ve seen, is interested in Rafael at least a little bit since she keeps entertaining him.”

“Do you need me to take over the deliveries?” To her right, Jed materialized with a dish towel in hand and was already reaching for the clean dish in Penelope’s hands to dry. His compassion was one of her favorite things about him. 

Growing up, Penelope was the one that always struggled with conveying anything other than sarcasm and attitude. Being put on a pedestal the first day your freshman year of high school and having a bunch of lackeys following your every move would do that to you. 

Penelope shook her head. “No. I can still do the deliveries, I’ll just lay off on the flirting. If I can at least be her friend I’d be okay with that. Can we talk about something else now?

++

With a new resolution in mind, Penelope went on about her days. She still made each and every order of Rafael’s to the best of her ability. Each time he came into the store she asked if he wanted to try writing a note to Josie but each time he refused. Something about not fixing what’s not broke and keeping the lady happy.

Mistake number two. Since she was trying to stop flirting with Josie every time they saw each other, she decided to channel all that energy into the notes instead. Every night before Rafael was due to come in, she would lay in bed trying to think up something profound and poetic… and every morning of, she would be on her computer googling profound and poetic love poems. 

But of course, her mistakes were like a domino effect. Had she known that her decision to fully put an effort into the love notes would only make Josie visibly  _ swoon  _ and ramble on about how much she loved reading the poems  _ every time _ … she might’ve reconsidered. 

“You know, reading this card and getting these deliveries are the highlight of my week. I always look forward to it and it helps that you’re very punctual.” Josie said to her once. It was nearing the tenth time Penelope delivered to Josie’s doorstep and she only found herself more and more intrigued with Josie. 

“Happy to help,” Penelope laughed before pausing. “So.. Feel free to tell me if I’m overstepping by asking this, but I can’t tell if things are going well between you and Rafael. Usually in my line of work, if someone’s buying these many flowers so often, they’re probably messing up somehow.” 

Josie stilled and the playful smile on her face faltered for just a moment but quickly remedied it. “When Raf finds out that I like something, he tends to go overboard..” Penelope watched as she chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment as if she was making sure to piece her next words carefully. “I told him how much I liked the deliveries and he took that as, must be an every week thing then.” 

It seemed like Josie was leaving something else out, but Penelope made no mention of it. She was probably just trying to spare her the details of their relationship to which she was grateful for. 

“Ah,” She nodded. “Well that’s great then. I better get going then, got a lot of orders to get to at the shop. I’m guessing I’ll see you next week?” She said jokingly. Her smile grew when she saw Josie’s enthusiastic nod. 

“I’m looking forward to it.” 

She turned on her heel and began making her way to the stairwell when Josie called out to her once more. 

“Penelope?”

“Hm?” She looked over her shoulder at Josie. Josie was halfway in her doorway with just her head poking out, a smile that stretched ear to ear on her lips. 

“I loved the orchids and hyacinths. They were beautiful.” 

++

It was safe to say that the days following the delivery were full of emotional turmoil for Penelope. She was confused to no end as to how Josie knew that she was the one behind that special delivery and not Raf. Not only that, the delivery was a few weeks ago too so why wait so long to say anything about it? 

Was she just waiting things out to see if Penelope would mention it first? Did she really like the flowers or was she just being nice because they had to see each other so often?

But why be nice about it if it just made her uncomfortable? Why encourage it?

“Ahhh!!” Penelope groaned as she fell back onto the couch, dragging a pillow to cover her face in the process. “I hate this!”

“What’s her deal?” She heard Hope say to Jed after opening their front door. It shut shortly after and Penelope could hear Hope shuffle over and plop herself onto the couch.

“She’s pining,” Jed called out from the kitchen.

She shot straight up, the pile of pillows that Hope began stacking on top of her came tumbling down to the floor. “I’m not pining!”

“Kinda seems like you’re pining sis.” Hope laughed, opening the pack of beer she had brought with her and handing one to Penelope. 

The darker haired girl took it happily, wasting no time in twisting the cap off and taking a long swig. “Do you guys believe in love at first sight?” 

Immediately she heard Jed drop a pot in the kitchen and Hope choke on her drink. As if it were timed, the two of them turned to look at her at the same time, eyes wide and mouth ajar. “ _ Huh?! _ ” They both yelled in unison. 

Penelope shrugged. “It’s just a question! I’m not saying that that’s what this is right now, I’m just.. Genuinely curious.” She looked at the two nervously, her fingers wrung over and over in her lap.

Hope met Jed’s eyes from across the room and cocked a brow to which Jed just shrugged. “Well..” Hope cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. “Okay, yeah I do. I can’t fault you for that. Remember when I was convinced that I was head over heels for that waitress at the restaurant on 6th?” 

Penelope smiled at the memory. The three of them were getting lunch at a random Italian place that was suddenly gaining a lot of hype. Their meal went well until their waiter informed them that someone else would be taking over his duties for them for the second half of their meal. Gone was MG, a shy looking kid and in came,  _ an actual blonde goddess that could happily step on me if she wanted to _ , as Hope put it. 

She didn’t see the appeal, in fact Penelope thought that Lizzie was a bit rude but she just attributed it to a bad day. 

Hope wouldn’t shut up about the girl for weeks after that first lunch and would continue to drag one or both of them to the restaurant any chance she got just for a glimpse of the blonde. 

“You never did work up the courage to ask her out.” Penelope chuckled. 

“And I never will. It’s bad enough to work up the courage to ask  _ anyone  _ out, but there’s probably a high chance that she isn’t even interested in girls anyways.” 

“Ah,” Penelope leaned back into the couch, beer in hand. “So we’re basically the same then. Pining after ‘straight’ girls,” 

Hope rubbed at her temple and closed her eyes like the conversation was giving her a headache. “It’s not our fault the guys here all suck.” 

“Hey now,” Jed chimed in as he made his entrance. In his hands was an assortment of foods, chips and dip, fries, chicken tenders and sliders all stacked on a tray. 

“Actually, never mind, I can’t argue. I’m not always this picture perfect, Adonis of a man like I am around you two.” He flashed them a cheesy smolder and a terrible wink.

The two girls nearly choked on their respective bites of food from laughing, a common occurrence whenever the three were together. 

“Please.. For the sake of every woman in the world, keep  _ that _ ,” Penelope gestured to Jed’s whole body. “To yourself… I don’t think society could take it.” 

++

The idea of going into work the morning after a night with both Hope and Jed was torture. More often than not, their union usually consisted of an abundance of greasy food and copious amounts of alcohol. 

Both of which were present last night.

Somehow Penelope was always the only one that got the worst of it. Hope and Jed could wake up the next morning with a minor headache and still be totally fine.  _ Penelope  _ on the other hand, always woke with a raging headache and exhausted beyond belief.

“Please tell me you got me a large,” Penelope grumbled as she pushed through the doors of the flower shop, sporting a pair of oversized sunglasses, messy bun and one of Jed’s sweaters. 

“It’s a quad shot, any more and you’ll probably have a heart attack.” Jed said, slowly taking her bag from her shoulder and placing the coffee in her palm. 

“You’re amazing.” Penelope groaned after her first sip of caffeine. It became an unspoken rule that on days like this, Jed would be the one to open while she came in an hour later purely for the sake of both their sanities. 

After chugging nearly half her cup, she shuffled over to the counter for a peak at the day’s orders. “Did I miss anything?” Which was her poor attempt at being subtle when she really wanted to ask,  _ Do I get to see Josie today? _

“Everything on the table is all we’ve gotten so far,” Jed pointed out the stack of orders under the phone. “Try not to look so lovesick, you’re making  _ me  _ nauseous.”

She rolled her eyes and shoved her cousin. “Oh hush it before I stick a vase up your--”

The phone rang at the moment, cutting Penelope off from saying anything further as she reached for the phone. “Flowers in the Park,” She said as she flipped her cousin the bird in response to him sticking his tongue out at her.

“ _ Uh, yes, this is Rafael Waithe. Raf,”  _ The voice on the other end said. It sounded significantly different than what Penelope remembered him sounding like, though she mostly spaced out during any conversations with the guy. “ _ I’d like to call in an order for flowers please. Can I--”  _ He cut himself off. 

From her end, Penelope could hear some shuffling around and faint whispers. “ _ The usual, please. For Josie. And just charge it to the card on file. _ ”

“Uh,” Penelope bit back a scoff. “Sure thing, Mr. Waithe. And when would you like it delivered?”

A moment of silence before he cleared his throat and spoke. “ _ Tomorrow please. Also I will only be calling in orders from now on. Thanks. _ ” And the line went dead.

“Tomorrow? That’s new, Raf usually has the flowers delivered on the day of ordering.”

Penelope squeaked out a scream at the sudden closeness of Jed’s voice. She slapped him on the shoulder and huffed, “Don’t scare me like that! God, I should put a bell on you.” 

Jed barked out a laugh and poked playfully at her rib. “Maybe your ears would work better if you weren’t always blasting old Taylor Swift songs in your room. For someone that can’t play a single instrument, you sing  _ Teardrops on My Guitar  _ pretty intensely.” 

“Don’t you have some flowers to collect?!” Huffed Penelope with an exasperated expression. 

Her cousin left her alone finally with one show of surrender through holding his hands in the air and walking away. “You’re lucky you’re a good singer.” She heard him murmur under his breath.

Calling in, huh? Not that she was complaining, at least now she wouldn’t have to pretend to like Raf’s presence and his crappy jokes. Not having to hear all his ramblings about how good things were going between him and Josie or how ‘ _ She’s gonna be my wife, just wait.‘ _

Thankfully the workday passed them by quickly. The two cousins only had to deal with two crazy guests claiming that the way their bouquets were arranged were  _ horrendous _ , yet all it took was Penelope shifting two flowers around for them to change their minds. 

That night was spent scouring the web for another poem in preparation of tomorrow’s order. Despite spending literal hours desperately trying to think of her own original love poems to write to the girl, she couldn’t come up with anything better than the clichés.

_ Roses are red _

_ Violets are blue _

_ ….any chance you like me too? _

For the fifth time that night, she aggressively crossed out the words that only looked back at her, mockingly and flopped backwards onto her couch with a sigh. 

“No luck?” Jed mumbled half asleep from the other couch. The fatigue that he lacked this morning somehow came back to bite him in the butt by materializing later on in the evening and hitting him like a truck.

“I can’t think of anything to write for tomorrow.” 

A beat of silence followed by some heavy breathing. Penelope turned her head to look at her cousin,  _ did he just fall asleep mid conversation?  _ She was just about to let out a laugh when he turned over to his other side, facing away from her. 

“Just think about how pretty she is or whatever. Things you like about her, the cheesy stuff.” He mumbled once more before finally drifting off into a deep snore. 

“Wha..” Penelope looked from her cousin back to the paper in front of her. Still nothing. She tried to think about Josie,  _ not that she wasn’t already thinking of her.  _ What was the first thing she noticed about her?

_ She was tall.  _ No dice. Throughout all her ‘research’ on love poems, not one talked about the height of the person and how it, what? Reminded them of a skyscraper they saw once? 

_ Your stature reminds me of the university buil--- _

She ripped the paper into pieces, there was no one she was going to risk the chance of anyone actually reading that.

The next thing she noticed about her was her smile. That was what reeled Penelope in the quickest. Her smile was warm, though shy during their first meetings. She liked the way only one corner of her mouth would tug up in a smile when she spoke, like the things she was telling Penelope were a secret meant only for her and no one else. 

For as long as she knew the girl, she always had that smile on her face. Even during the times that they were talking about touchy subjects such as Raf, there was always the hint of it ever present. 

_ Your smile…..  _

_ can’t look away…. _

_ …. shining _

_...throughout... _

Holy crap.

++

“Penelope!”

Today, Josie was wearing cropped sweatpants and a loose top, her hair tied up in a very tight looking bun at the crown of her head. She had that dazzling smile on her face again as she took in Penelope’s presence with an unsubtle onceover.

Penelope tried not to put too much thought into that. 

“Hi! Got some more flowers for you.” She extended the flowers towards Josie, hoping her little gasp when their fingers touched went unnoticed by the brunette. “Looks like you got lucky, seeing me twice in one week?” She mentally smacked herself on the forehead the second the words left her mouth. 

_ Tone down the flirting, not try harder Penelope.  _

“I meant, the flowers! Flowers twice in one week? The guy must be in the dog house.”  _ Just stop talking. _

Unsurprisingly, Josie let out a sigh and shrugged but the expression on her face failed to convey any irritation or sadness. “We, uh, got into an argument the other day.” She said it more like a question than a statement. “I’m still kind of mad at him so this is just him making it up to me.” 

“Oh,” Penelope furrowed a brow. She didn’t look too distraught as she was telling her the story, but at the same time Penelope didn’t know Josie well enough yet to fully be able to read her. Maybe she was a person that hid her emotions well. 

_ Or maybe she didn’t actually care. _

“Anything I can do?”

Josie must’ve seen something in her expression because hers softened, a warm smile gracing her features. “All is well now, thank you for asking. You’re sweet. I’ll see you around?”

Penelope couldn’t help the smirk that tugged at the corner of her mouth. 

“You betcha.”

++

A week later around the usual time that Raf would’ve waltzed into the store and handed over his credit card, their phone rang instead. 

“Flowers in the Park, how can I help you?” Penelope said instinctively. She had been  _ leaping  _ to the phones every time it rang since Raf’s call last week only to be disappointed when it wasn’t a call for Josie’s order.

Yes, Penelope knew that it was pathetic. Clinging onto the little interactions she shared with the brunette every time she delivered flowers but what was she to do? 

Before stepping into Josie’s apartment complex, she always gave herself a mental pep talk.

Don’t flirt with her.

Don’t get distracted when she smiles.

Don’t look into her eyes too long because you’ll just end up getting that stupid look on your face again…

Needless to say her resolve never lasted long.

“ _ Yes hello, this is Rafael Waithe. I need another order for Josie Saltzman. The usual.”  _

“Yes, Mr. Waithe of course.” she replied. Not needing to actually write the order down, she took to opening up her laptop and began her usual search for poems once more.

Some shuffling could be heard through the other end of the call and it made Penelope curious. She stopped typing and tried to focus on listening to what seemed like hushed whispers arguing back and forth.

“Is everything okay Mr. Waithe?” 

Her question was met with the sound of him aggressively clearing his throat before speaking. “ _ Just fine. Have it ordered as soon as possible please. Charged to the same card.”  _ Then the line went dead.

Penelope probably would’ve cared more about Raf’s odd behavior is she, well,  _ cared  _ about Raf. To her, he was just a way to see Josie. 

Of course that’s not to say that she wouldn’t care about the way he treated her though. She wouldn’t hesitate to knock the guy out if Josie said anything of the sort.

She quickly got to work on picking out the prettiest roses they had in store that day and pulled out a card to begin writing. 

_ Looking into your eyes is like a breath of fresh air _

_ It always makes my day _

_ So tell me when God made you _

_ Did he think it was fair? _

Penelope wasted absolutely no time in getting the arrangement done and ready to go. She shouted a quick goodbye to Jed and told him that she’d be back soon and to watch the counter before bolting out of the store. 

With the prospect of seeing Josie at the forefront of her mind, she let her giddy excitement flow through her body like the blood in her veins. Tapping her hands on the steering wheel as she drove and even singing along to the radio.

But as she neared the apartment complex, she felt that all too familiar shyness creep up on her again. It took wiping her hands two times on her jeans and a few deep breaths before she climbed out of her car and marched into the complex.

Making her way to Josie’s apartment was purely muscle memory now and she didn’t know if she should relish the feeling or swallow it down like a bad pill. 

She rapped at the door three times like she usually did and to her surprise, the door swung open almost immediately.

Josie looked flushed, the apples of her cheeks a little pink and bits of hair coming loose from her ponytail. The  _ Salvatore Stallions  _ shirt she was wearing was a bit crinkled too, like she was in a rush to put it back on. 

Penelope did her best to school her features, not letting her curiosity or bitterness show through.

“Delivery for one J. Saltzman,” she said with the last bit of leftover excitement from her drive over.

“I am  _ the  _ J. Saltzman,” Josie flashed her that  _ damn  _ smile and Penelope felt all her worries melt away.

The usual thing happened, Penelope held out the bouquet of flowers to Josie, their fingers would brush against each other,  _ maybe a little longer this time _ , leaving Penelope to try and shake off the blush that spread from her cheeks to the tips of her ears.

“So, how’s your day so far--”

“Hey Jo, you gotta tell me where you got your body wash-- oh,” A voice from behind Josie spoke up. It was a boy, probably around the same age as them. His afro was pulled back into a low ponytail and he was wearing sweatpants and  _ no shirt _ , just a towel hanging around his shoulders. When his eyes landed on Penelope, they went wide and he quickly shuffled backwards. 

“Sorry! I’ll, uh, I’ll be over there.” He gestured with his hands wildly and Penelope wished she didn’t feel that ball of jealousy settle in the pit of her stomach.

Who was that guy and why was he shirtless in Josie’s apartment asking about her  _ body wash _ ? Was he a new guy in her life? What about Raf? Was Josie the type to date multiple people at once?

Not that that’s a bad thing, Josie’s allowed to do whatever she wants or…  _ who _ ever she wants.

Oh god, now Penelope  _ definitely  _ had no shot with her. She spent all that time flirting with the girl and she was sure that Josie was flirting back. Maybe Josie’s just a natural flirt?

“You better not have used all of it, that brand is expensive!” Josie said somewhat irritably over her shoulder. 

She turned back to face Penelope and the smile she had from earlier had vanished. In its place was a look of worry as she reached a hand out to the darker haired girl.

“Are you okay?”

Penelope shook herself out of her inner turmoil and smiled. “Yeah, sorry, just been a long day. I should let you get back,” she gestured vaguely to the guy who was no doubt hovering somewhere nearby.

“Lots of arrangements to… arrange.” 

Josie’s brows crinkled together and she took a step to Penelope. One arm was holding the bouquet while the other looked like it wanted to reach out but thought otherwise. “Oh, well. Um, I’ll see you around then? Word on the shelf is that  _ Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend  _ is getting a sequel.”

“W-Word on the shelf?” Penelope laughed. “Is that an actual phrase?”

Josie pressed her lips together in embarrassment while her cheeks reddened. “..Okay I might’ve just made that up.”

“You’re such a dork.” Penelope couldn’t help the stupid giggle that escaped her throat but she quickly calmed herself. “See you around, Josie.”

The rest of the car ride back to work was spent trying to convince herself that the longing look in Josie’s eyes as she left wasn’t that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen, I swear I had a direction with this and I still do, it's just kind of muddled here. But! I wanted to get another chapter out to you all bc you lot were so nice last chapter :'c There won't be too many chapters to this I believe, I don't want to draw it out. Maybe like 5 chapters? We'll see! 
> 
> Thank you all for all the kind words and kudos and all the support! I've been reevaluating my writing style/formatting and what not and I'm trying to incorporate more.. substance? In my writing which is the main reason behind this chapter being what it is. (((pls bear with me in this trying time, i have no idea what i'm doin)))
> 
> As always, I love reading your guys' comments, let me know what you think! Concerns? Questions? 
> 
> I'm on tumblr @youresomoneybby


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> any and all errors are mine, English is hard ok

It’s another two whole weeks before Penelope got to see Josie again. It’s nearing high school formal season so the shop had become  _ swamped  _ with orders upon orders to the point where they had to restrict deliveries purely to three times a week. 

And for all six times the past two weeks, Penelope was stuck in the store gathering flowers and fulfilling orders while Jed was the one out on deliveries. 

The worst part of it all was that she knew Josie had orders those times too. Under the guise of going through orders for the day, she scanned through the stack of papers in hopes of seeing the girl’s name, and she had.

But every time it came time for deliveries, she was already preoccupied with another guest or multiple orders. 

Jed only mentioned one time that Josie asked for her. “She was curious as to what you were up to,” he said before taking a large bite of his burrito. “I think she has a crush on you, Penny.” 

To which Penelope rolled her eyes and threw a napkin at him. “She doesn’t. She’s probably just someone that likes her routine, not a fan of change or something. It’s normal.” _I'm not a fan._

Her cousin shook his head and swallowed the bite that was too much for his mouth before speaking. “I don’t know, you shoul--”

“She only asked once, right?” 

Jed nodded.

“But she’s had what,” she pretended to check the log even though she already knew. “Three orders total? I’m sure you’d be thrown off too if you were in her shoes. Just drop it.”

They finished their lunch in silence after that.

Part of her felt bad for snapping at her cousin. Penelope knew that he was only trying to help and even encourage her to take a chance. It  _ had  _ been a while since she was in a relationship but that was nothing Jed should be concerning himself with. 

A few days after that conversation, Penelope decided to go to the bookstore. Hope had finished her book sometime ago and wouldn’t stop trying to tell her the entire plotline of Pyke and Sheil’s love story.

So she wanted to shut her friend up with another bad book, preferably one that  _ didn’t  _ have anything to do with pterodactyls this time. 

The bookstore was relatively empty as expected. It was sometime in the afternoon on a Tuesday so she wasn’t anticipating seeing the people stuffed between the bookshelves reading whatever sparked their interest.

Penelope made a beeline for the romance section and began scanning the shelves for the next treasure to bestow upon her best friend. To her disappointment, every book that she picked up ended up having an interesting synopsis and was something that she would read herself.

How boring.

In between looking for books, she let her eyes wander around the store in search for Josie. She didn’t know if the girl was even working these hours let alone working today at  _ all,  _ but it didn’t hurt to try. 

As she was inspecting the rows of books to her right, she heard someone clear their throat to her left.

_ Josie? _

Her head whipped to the side, eyes wide and one corner of her mouth ticking up into a smile in anticipation.

Only to be greeted with  _ not  _ Josie.

Refusing to let her disdain color the rest of her features so easily, she kept the now awkward smile on her face and looked at the girl expectantly.

The girl looked back at her. She wore a nametag pinned to the front of her shirt and had a bored look in her eye though her smile was a bit… intimidating?

“Find everything okay?” She readjusted her features then, the bored looking being replaced by intrigue and her smile reminding Penelope of the cat that caught the canary.

“Uh,” Penelope grumbled. “Sort of. I’m looking for a really bad romance book.” 

The girl, Dana, as her name tag read, nodded her head and pointed to the books at the end of the shelf. “Have you tried  _ Twilight _ ?”

Penelope chuckled. “The person I’m buying the book for actually likes Twilight,” 

“Ah, and is this person a friend? Or is it for your--” Dana took a small step closer to Penelope with every other word. 

Her body moved on it’s own, taking a full step backwards into a whole  _ person  _ who instantly grabbed onto her to keep her from falling on her butt _.  _ “Sor--”

“Penelope?” Green eyes trailed from the long fingers that were wrapped around her arms up to Josie’s brown ones, then down to her lips unabashedly. Their faces were close,  _ too close  _ for comfort and Penelope felt her face immediately blush a deep red as she tore her gaze back to her eyes.

“Josie!”

In that moment she swore she saw her own blush mirrored onto Josie and she ignored the happy flip her stomach did.

“You two know each other?” 

The two broke eye contact then to stare at Dana standing in front of them. Her expression was a mix of surprise and irritation, arms crossed and mouth set to a frown. 

“Uh, kind of.” Penelope grunted as she pulled herself away from Josie’s arms. She mourned the loss of her warmth immediately.

“We’re friends.” Josie said surprisingly with a stern tone. 

Penelope watched as the two girls essentially had a staring contest right in the middle of the store. She glanced back and forth, neither girl really giving in until Dana attempted a sardonic smile.

“Well,” Dana started. The blonde’s gaze darted from Josie to Penelope. “I for one would love to be your friend too. What do you think..?” She looked at Penelope expectantly and Penelope realized that this girl didn’t even know her name yet.

Penelope looked at Josie briefly but the brunette was busy glaring holes into Dana’s forehead.  _ If looks could kill. _

“Penelope,” She offered indifferently. Penelope wasn’t stupid. She knew Dana was flirting with her well before Josie showed up and only ramped up the effort after she showed up.

It wasn’t something that she planned to entertain. Even just standing there with the two girls looking like they were about to wring the other’s necks was too much.

“ _ Penelope _ ,” Dana said as if she was testing how the name sounded coming from her. “Well, Penelope, feel free to ask for me whenever. Just ask for the assistant manager, I’m sure I can assist you in more ways than one,” Dana smiled a sickly sweet smile at her before stealing a glimpse at Josie.

“More than my fellow associates can, that is.” She stalked off towards some random direction after that, Penelope wasn’t sure where nor did she care. Her attention was all on the taller girl next to her who still stood there with the cutest scowl Penelope had ever laid eyes on gracing her features. 

She nudged Josie with her elbow and offered a smirk. “Let me guess, you  _ love  _ working with her.”

The scowl melted away to an annoyed eye roll and exasperated laugh took its place instead. “Oh yeah, we’re the bestest of friends. That’s my girl.” 

Penelope laughed. She liked the fact that the two of them were close enough now that they could joke around like this. She was pretty certain that Josie’s irritation with Dana went deeper than she knew,  even though a small part of her hoped it was jealousy .

“C’mon, you can help me decide on a new book for Hope. What’ve you got in terms of cowboy romances?”

Penelope let Josie lead the way to the back of the bookstore where they kept all their ‘bad romance books that you usually see at a drugstore or an airport,’ as Josie put it. She told her how every time the store would get new shipments of that genre, she always made the extra effort to find the worst possible one and give it to her sister.

“If you asked her, she would just straight up lie to your face and say that she doesn’t know what you’re talking about. But behind closed doors? She  _ loves  _ that stuff. Everyone in high school always knew her for her snarky comments and mean girl facade, but deep down she’s a hopeless romantic. Always searching for her happy ending.” 

There was a faraway look in Josie’s eyes as she spoke. For a moment, her lips tugged into a wistful smile before shaking it away. Any and all hints of it gone just like that. 

“And you?” Penelope asked.

“And me what?”

“Are you a hopeless romantic?”

Josie chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment before nodding. “I like to think so. How about you?”

No hesitation like it was a reflex. “Too much for my own good, I think.” 

The eye contact they held felt weird, almost like it was too intimate at that moment but Penelope didn’t want to be the first one to look away. Thankfully, she didn’t have to. Josie was the first one to break eye contact when she reached for a book on the nearest shelf and held it up for Penelope to see. 

The cover was of an overly muscular man; shirtless of course, holding a beautiful woman around her waist from behind with the title flowing at the top.

_ A Sword for His Lady. _

All Penelope could do was gape. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish as she tried to find the words to best convey her.... Confusion?

“Your sister really likes this kind of stuff?”

“Don’t hate.  _ You’re  _ the one buying the book for your friend.” Josie shrugged. 

“As a joke!” Penelope laughed. “She doesn’t actually like them,” A pause. “At least I hope she doesn't.” Her brows furrowed together when the thought of Hope  _ actually  _ enjoying the terrible books that Penelope bought her deemed true. 

The sound of Josie’s laughter tugged her back to reality and she playfully pushed the girl with her arm. “Cowboy romance, focus.”

The two of them spent the next fifteen minutes scanning the shelves and making each other laugh by reading out the cringey titles to one another. It very quickly evolved into a competition on who could find the worst book cover all while laughing so hard that Penelope’s cheeks hurt and Josie could barely formulate a coherent sentence.

“Oh! This one, I just know it.” Josie shuffled over with the book in her hands and leaned in  unnecessarily close so Penelope could see the cover. 

“ _ Saddled and Spurred _ ,” she read the title aloud. “By God I think this is it.” 

A quick walk up to the register, an awkward exchange of looks with one of Josie’s coworkers and ten dollars later, the deed was done. She held up the plastic bag that held the book and smiled up at Josie. “Your help was much appreciated, thank you for helping me find a masterpiece such as this.” Penelope said with a laugh. “How can I ever repay you?”

Penelope was ready to bid Josie a goodbye once she finished up at the cash register, but to her surprise Josie told her that she just finished her shift when they ran into each other. So, they both agreed on walking together out of the store and to their respective cars.

“Oh the possibilities,” Josie hummed and tapped a finger against her chin as she pondered. “Ah,” She dug into her purse with her free hand and pulled out a pamphlet. She held it out for Penelope to see and upon closer expectation, it was a to-go menu for a restaurant that Penelope always walked past to get to the bookstore.

“How about dinner? I’ve been dying to try this place out despite the mixed reviews but I don’t want to be the only one risking food poisoning in case it really does suck.” Josie said with a smirk. 

“Dinner?” Penelope stupidly repeated. Her mind was still trying to wrap around the fact that Josie  _ asked her to dinner _ , though probably not in the way that Penelope really wished. But that didn’t mean that she couldn’t hope. 

“Well,” Josie started, a bit flustered. “I realized that we don’t really know much about each other, and, I don’t know. We’re friends right?” 

Penelope nodded.

“So friends should know each other’s last names.”

“I know your last name.”

Josie rolled her eyes and whined. “ _I know you do_ , but I don’t know  _ yours. _ ”

Penelope had to bite back the goofy smile that she was oh so tempted to let tug at her lips. It was cute the way Josie was going about this and definitely unexpected.

“It’s Park.”

Josie perked up then. “Park? Like Flowers in the  _ Park _ , Park?”

Penelope bobbed her head up and down. “That’s me, or well, my cousin technically.”

“I never knew that,” Josie breathed out. The words came out almost like she was irritated with herself for not realizing the obvious. Surely that wasn’t the case.

Josie shook her head and waved her arms around like she was trying to stop something. “No more! I don’t want to hear anymore about you until we’re sitting in front of some takeout on the floor of my apartment.”    
  


Penelope barked out a laugh and held up her hands in surrender. “Lead the way.”

The restaurant was only a few blocks away from the bookstore with Josie’s apartment not being too far from there. They walked side by side the whole time the way to pick up the food and Penelope stayed quiet as she listened to Josie talk about her day. She only let her eyes glance down at Josie’s hands once. The slightest pang of disappointment flashed through her when she saw her safely tuck her hands into the pockets of her coat. Penelope did the same.

She let Josie take the liberty of ordering their food but made a valiant effort when it came time to pay... only to be surprised when Josie was able to hold her back while the cashier swiped her credit card. 

Maybe it was carrying all those boxes of books but Josie was  _ strong.  _

_ Stupidly strong. _

Penelope filed that little piece of information away for another time.

Having lost the battle on paying for dinner, she purposefully stood closer to the pickup area so she could swipe the bags of food before Josie could get her hands on it. All she offered was a sweet smile and a tilt of her head as if to say,  _ lead the way. _

The trip to the apartment was shockingly quick, or maybe it was just because listening to Josie talk about having to dust the tops of shelves and in between book displays was more entertaining than it should’ve been.

Eventually they arrived, and the two girls wasted no time in setting their coats down and spreading out the food on Josie’s coffee table. Penelope hadn’t realized how hungry she was until the smell of curry wafted up to her and her stomach growled audibly.

She dropped her gaze to the table when she could see from the corner of her eye that Josie was smiling at her and no doubt also at the reddening tips of her ears. After Josie left to the kitchen to grab their drinks, Penelope took that chance to look around the apartment.

She'd been delivering flowers to Josie for months now and this was the first time she really got a good look at the place, let alone fully stepped  _ into  _ the apartment. It was cozy and simple. A small sectional with a coffee table placed in front of it with a large TV that was mounted on the wall not too far from that. To her right was a small dining table cluttered with an assortment of books and papers that fit probably four people at most, then the kitchen across from that. 

There was one hallway in the center of the apartment that Penelope assumed led to the bedroom and bathroom. Her eyes fell on the table below the TV, there were a few board games, a gaming system and multiple photo frames lining it. 

Photos of Josie and a blonde who she assumed was her sister since the frame literally said _Sisters._ A photo of Josie and her parents, and one last one of Josie with her sister sandwiching a boy with poofy hair. No photos of Raf, something Penelope tried not to smile too hard at. But there was that guy, Penelope recognized him as the one she saw in this apartment the last time she delivered to Josie. But after taking a longer look at the kid, she could’ve swore she’s seen him elsewhere too. The same went for Josie's sister. 

She didn’t look ‘plain’ enough that the familiarity Penelope felt when she looked at her could be played off as  _ just having one of those faces.  _ Where the hell has she seen her before?

The photo was taken at what looked like a football field, the three of them sported matching grins and jerseys. Once again, she recognized the name on their shirts as the same one Josie was wearing from the last delivery. 

“Enjoying yourself?” Josie asked as she plopped down on a spot next to Penelope, two bottles of water in hand. She followed the darker haired girl’s eyes to the photo frame and smiled. “That’s MG, Lizzie and I have been best friends with him since we were kids.”

“You guys look young in that photo,” Penelope said and took a sip of her water to try and calm her nerves.  _ Best friends _ . That explained why ‘MG’ looked so comfortable in Josie’s apartment. She tried to ignore the temptation to cheer. “Is that high school?”

“Yup,” Josie took a bite of her curry dipped katsu chicken. “Our school had an annual flag football game with a neighboring high school and the three of us always participated. We won like, 40-0 in that.” 

“That sounds terrible for the other team, talk about being crushed.” Penelope asked around a big bite of curry and rice.

Josie passed her a napkin when a glob of food had fallen onto her chin before Penelope could get her spoon fully in her mouth. She took it with a grateful smile. 

“Did you play any sports in high school?”

Penelope raised a brow at her, flashing an expectant look. “I’m a florist, Josie. How many ex-jocks do you know like to play with flowers?” 

Josie rolled her eyes in that playful way again and smiled. Embarrassment was written all over her features but she kept her gaze on her food. “I was giving you the benefit of the doubt, you dork.” 

“Woah woah,” Penelope pointed her fork at her. “Just because you bought me dinner doesn’t mean you get to call me names," _Just yet._ She smirked at Josie. “Dessert needs to be included.” 

The brunette pushed her arm, not hard enough to actually hurt but enough to make her sway back and forth. “Fine fine,” Josie chuckled. “Do you have any siblings?”

“No,” Penelope replied quickly. ‘But my cousin Jed, he works at the shop with me. It’s his parents that own the store actually. He’s basically my brother. We grew up together and have been inseparable since we were kids.” 

It was a well rehearsed speech at this point. Every year in school when she would make new friends, they’d ask the same question and Penelope gave the same answer. She never minded being an only child. If anything, she was happy that was the case. Her parents were always so busy with work that they rarely had the time to spend with her, she didn’t even want to imagine a little brother or sister going through the same.

On the rare occasions where she did feel sad, Jed was there to pick her up. She was so grateful for the guy and felt so fortunate that he was in her life. She wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I always thought having a brother would’ve sucked, y’know? You always hear those horror stories on brothers that just absolutely terrorize their sisters, but I got lucky. Jed’s a pretty tame guy but I do take full credit for him not being a complete asshole.”

Penelope’s smile matched Josie’s as she told the story, and when Josie didn’t say anything she continued. “What is it like having a twin?” Fraternal, of course, Penelope didn’t think she could function if there were two Josies.

“It’s…. Pretty amazing, honestly.” Josie’s smile turned wistful as she leaned back against the cushions of the couch. Their food was long forgotten by now as the two became absorbed in their conversation. 

“It’s like having someone that’s always in your corner, y’know? And because we’re twins, we’re more in sync with each other than most siblings are. She knows when I’m feeling some type of way and I know when she is. Sometimes I swear I can even feel when she’s in pain.” Penelope just offered a warm smile. 

There was a softness in the way Josie talked about her sister that made Penelope’s heartache. She wanted nothing more than to scoop the girl up in her arms and whisper reassurances to her, instead she settled for a soft  _ bop  _ on the nose. 

“Do you think she felt that?”

Josie’s nose scrunched up on contact and it was  _ too adorable. _

“Hush,” she batted away her hand. “I don’t expect you to believe me, not a lot of people do when I tell them.” Josie’s voice was hushed and her eyes downcast, causing Penelope to scramble internally.

_ Did I just mess this whole thing up? _

She rested a hand on Josie’s shoulder and squeezed. The gesture was just enough to not scare Josie away completely but enough to fulfill Penelope’s desire to touch her. “I never said I didn’t,” she said softly. “I believe you. Don’t they call that kind of thing twin telepathy or something?”

The smile she got from Josie then was blinding and it made Penelope want to sing.

“Tell me more.”

“Things aren’t always sunshine and rainbows though,” Josie sighed. “For a long time we weren’t close. We got into a really bad fight over one of our friends from when we were kids and it hurt us for years. I relied on MG a lot then. Having a sister let alone a twin is great, don’t get me wrong. But I used to always wonder what it would’ve been like to have a brother too, and after I met MG, I didn’t have to wonder anymore. Because I had him.”

Penelope’s smile was filled with nothing short of adoration and happiness. If she could see herself right now, she swore she had literal hearts in her eyes. Getting to see this side of Josie was more than she could’ve asked for. 

“It wasn’t until our parents split up that we reconciled. Being sad is one thing, but when you have to feel your twin’s sadness on top of your own? God, it was crippling.” Josie’s voice cracked near the end and without thinking, Penelope scooted over to wrap an arm around the girl’s shoulders..

She prayed hard that Josie couldn’t feel or hear the erratic beating of her heart when she nuzzled into the embrace. “You don’t have to tell me about  _ that _ if it’s too hard.” 

Josie shook her head and laid her head on Penelope’s shoulder. 

Penelope wanted to scream.

“The short but sweet version is that Lizzie knew I liked them, she was the only person I ever told about that crush. But they didn’t like me like that, they liked Lizzie and Lizzie knew but didn’t want to tell me to protect me. I didn’t know any of this until years later, so when I walked in on them kissing I was so upset. Looking back now, I can’t believe I really let someone get between us like that.” Josie chuckled incredulously. She pulled away from the shorter girl’s arms in favor of turning on her side with her head propped up on her elbow, her body facing Penelope.

Penelope tried not to let the disappointment color her features at the loss. Rather, she reluctantly reminded herself that Josie was just being nice and didn’t like her like that.

“They ended up moving away a few months later and I haven’t spoken to them since.”

Something about Josie’s tone had Penelope wanting to know more. “But you think Lizzie has?”

Josie shrugged, her expression indifferent. “I wouldn’t mind if she has. That hatchet’s been buried. I’d actually love to hang out with Hope again--”

_ Hold on. _

She held her hand up to stop Josie from speaking anymore as she processed her words. _Moved away when they were kids._ She succinctly remembered _her_ Hope always talking about how she used to live in Mystic Falls but had to move away for a few years. Disbelief colored her features and she smiled at her crush. “What are the odds that your Hope and my Hope are the same person?”

Josie’s brows knitted together in confusion, lips pressed into a thin line. “Wait, you have a friend named Hope?” 

Now it was Penelope giving Josie a confused look, had she not mentioned that? She thought back to the first time they met and all the conversations that followed after. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I mentioned her name the first time we met at the bookstore.” Penelope smirked. “Or were you totally just not paying attention to anything I said?”

Josie’s cheeks flushed a light pink. Her gaze dropped from Penelope to the floor where she absentmindedly began drawing patterns into the carpet with a finger. “...I was preoccupied with something. It was a busy day.” 

Suddenly, she sat straight up and waved her hand in the air like she was batting away the topic. “No more of that! Is Hope a common name?”

Penelope rolled her eyes. “We live in Mystic Falls,  _ Virginia.  _ What do you think?”

“Okay okay,” Josie giggled and once again, reached out to shove Penelope in the same manner. The feeling of her touch lingered even after she pulled away. 

“We’ll both say the last name of the Hope we know on three, alright? For funsies.”

“Okay.”

“One, two…. Three--”

“ _ Mikaelson. _ ”

“ _ Mikaelson. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 100 kudos! Holy cow! Or holy ox! Happy Lunar New Year! (it's the year of the ox hehe) I didn't plan to post this chapter so 'soon' to be honest, hence the late upload lol. I originally planned to take this week off of posting a chapter in order to completely write out the rest of the story but I felt bad. Plus, it's Lunar New Year so how could I not? Or if you guys don't celebrate, it's Friday so how could I not!
> 
> Anyways, next update might be a bit delayed as I work on writing out the rest of the fic so I hope ya'll understand. Any and all updates on my stories or if you just want to chat, will be on my tumblr @youresomoneybby ((i tried to use a hyperlink and failed miserably)
> 
> Comments concerns or whatever you want to say is always appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

“ _ Hope! _ **”**

“What! What!” The red-head jumped at Penelope’s sudden entrance, nearly falling off her couch. From the messiness of her hair and the dazed look in her eyes, she was sleeping just before.

It was late into the evening, Penelope had just left Josie’s apartment and sped over to the other side of town to her best friend’s apartment. After the both of them found out that the Hope they both knew was the same person, their conversation got weird.

Josie was shocked at the coincidence and rightfully curious about what her friend had been up to all these years. She asked Penelope when they met and how long she’s been living in Mystic Falls. 

Penelope wanted to ask questions too. She wanted to know what Hope was like when they were kids and if she had any embarrassing stories she could blackmail her with.

But the only thing that stayed glued to Penelope’s thoughts was that Josie had a  _ crush  _ on Hope. 

Her emotions were all over the place. 

Granted, it was years ago and while she was relieved to hear that Hope didn’t return her feelings, another part of her was heartbroken at the idea of young Josie stuck with unrequited love. Another part of her was shocked that there was an actual human being on the Earth that wouldn’t jump at the chance to be with Josie, kids or not. 

Then there was the part of her that was jealous.

Jealous that of all the people in the universe, it had to be her best friend that the girl she was currently pining over used to have a crush on. A crush that was so big it caused a rift between Josie and her twin sister for  _ years.  _

And then it all hit her at once.

Josie’s twin sister, Lizzie. The ‘blonde goddess’ in the form of a waitress from the restaurant Hope would always drag her to. Looking into the terrified and confused look in Hope’s eyes, she remembered where she'd seen Lizzie and MG before. Irritation and the slightest bit of hurt replaced her anger as she plopped herself down on the other end of the couch.

“You lied to me.” 

Hope rubbed the remaining sleep from her eyes and sat up groggily. “What did I lie to you about exactly?”

Penelope narrowed her eyes at her. 

“Josie.”

++

“I didn’t know that the Josie you’ve been talking about was the same Josie I grew up with, okay? I  _ swear  _ to you, Pen.” 

Hope was wide awake now after pouring the two of them a steaming mug of tea to try and calm down Penelope’s emotions. They sat across from each other on opposite ends, legs crossed and just on the cusp of a staring contest purely due to their shared stubbornness.

“Do you know how many white people there are in Virginia?” 

Penelope was doing a decent job at keeping her lips turned down in a frown, her jaw set and gaze hard up until then. There was the slightest crack in her demeanor at her friend’s attempt to lighten the mood and she cursed herself for her inability to really stay mad at the girl. 

“..Too many.” 

The two shared a smile.

The darker haired girl slumped down in her spot until she was half laying on the couch and half falling off it. “Okay. I’m not pressed about that anymore,” She said before sitting up again. “But you still lied to me about the Lizzie thing. Why didn’t you just tell me you knew her?” 

Hope bit the inside of her cheek, her gaze downcast as she expelled a sigh. “It’s complicated,” Hope shrugged. “We had only just been talking again for a few months that first time we went to the restaurant and were still figuring out what we wanted. I  _ may  _ have said something that pissed her off and made her ignore me for a few days, and that’s when I asked you to go to that restaurant with me.” 

“What did you say?” Penelope asked quietly.

The girl sighed again and mimicked Penelope’s posture from earlier by slumping down in her spot. “I wanted us to be exclusive.” 

Penelope felt her brows shoot up to her hairline at that, not even bothering to downplay the shock in her face. “Wait huh? Back up please. I thought you were seeing Landon.” 

Hope gave her a sheepish look then and inhaled a large breath right before going into the whole story. Penelope did her best to stay quiet, only making little quips and gasps while Hope launched into an explanation on the history of her and Lizzie’s relationship. 

Somewhere in between she slipped in that her and Landon broke things off shortly after their New Orleans trip. Neither of them felt the spark anymore and didn’t see a reason to force something that just wasn’t working. They agreed to stay friends though since they still wanted to be a part of each other’s lives.

Then  _ Lizzie _ happened. Apparently, her and Lizzie got in touch just earlier that year after running into each other at the store. It was awkward at first since that hadn’t spoken since Hope moved away but after a heavily mimosa fueled brunch, it was like nothing changed.

And they talked  _ a lot.  _ If they weren’t spending time together, they were texting. If they weren’t texting, they were video calling. Penelope briefly remembered seeing Hope check her phone more often when they were having their usual hangouts but not really paying too much mind to it. She explained to her how talking to Lizzie again reminded her of the feelings they shared when they were kids and to her surprise, it was Lizzie that asked her out on a date first. 

Penelope didn’t realize that she was smiling to herself as Hope was gushing about their first date until their eyes met again. She was ridiculously happy to see her friend so over the moon about this girl but the feeling was fleeting when Hope’s smile started to falter. 

“Then I screwed it up,” Hope groaned. “Things were going so well between us until I asked that we be exclusive.” 

“I still don’t understand,” Penelope shook her head. “Why would she get mad at that? Was she dating other people while dating you?” 

“No,” Hope sipped her tea and hesitated. “...I might’ve impulsively asked her that while we were on a date because this dude came up to us and started hitting on her.” 

Penelope pressed her lips together to keep in the laugh she so desperately wanted to let out. When Hope gave her a look and she coughed away the urge. Her friend was hurting, this wasn’t the time to be laughing at her expense. “So you were jealous, that’s normal.”

“Yeah, I know. But Lizzie’s last relationship ended because the guy had jealousy issues and she wasn’t having any of it. It might’ve been too soon and that’s why she freaked out on me. And before you start,” Hope held her hand out for emphasis. “We’re better now.” 

The green eyed girl nodded. The tip of her finger began tracing the lip of her mug as she took the time to absorb everything. She couldn’t hold the Josie thing against Hope. She believed her friend when she swore that she didn’t know that they were the same person and it was a common enough name where they lived too.

But there was still the Lizzie thing. 

“I’m still kind of hurt about the Lizzie thing though,” Penelope confessed quietly. Over the years she had gotten better at being honest and communicating what she was feeling instead of bottling it up and keeping it to herself. No matter how much she wanted to just brush it all off with a simple ‘ _ It’s fine _ ’ and go to bed. 

“We tell each other everything, dude.” The corner of her mouth ticked up into a smile, an unconscious move that she did to lighten the mood whenever a moment got too awkward. “You could’ve told me about her, heck you could’ve told me about Landon too.”

“I know,” Hope acknowledged. “That was my bad. I guess, in my mind, telling you about her would’ve made everything real.. And it still didn’t feel real to me then, that she was in my life and liked me. And Landon,” She hesitated. “You were so busy with work that I didn’t want to bug you with something so miniscule.”

A blanket of silence settled over them at Hope’s confession. Mostly because Penelope didn’t know what to say to that. Should she be flattered or annoyed? This was the first time that Hope ever admitted something like that to her. 

Throughout their whole friendship Hope was always the first person Penelope confided in with new developments, with the exception of Jed of course. She knew it was selfish to assume that Penelope would always be that person for Hope and she hated that she felt that way. 

Extending her leg, she reached out to nudge Hope’s foot with her own. “I’ll always have time to hear about your life, don’t ever think otherwise.” That earned her the signature little smile from Hope. “I’m not mad, just a little hurt still. Maybe if you grovel a little it’ll make it better.” 

Penelope laughed when Hope only rolled her eyes and shoved her hard enough that she had to hold onto the cushion so she didn’t fly off. Laughter filled the small living room as the two girls traded hits back and forth until one of them nearly spilled their tea. 

“Alright alright, enough. I’m not letting you stain my nice couch with scalding hot tea.” Penelope flopped back onto her back, green eyes tracing mindless patterns into the ceiling. 

Silence settled over them once again but this time it wasn’t uncomfortable. They cleared the air for the most part, Penelope mostly feeling betrayed that Hope hid a whole relationship from her. She managed to file away the other pesky little detail that was gnawing at her the most before even stepping into the apartment.

But Hope being Hope, she could easily read her.

“Just ask me.” She chuckled. 

Penelope hesitated.

“You and Josie.” was all she managed.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Hope nod. “Just friends, that’s all.”

“Okay, but what if--”

“ _ That’s all. _ ”

“Yeah and--”

“Did you forget that I’m dating her sister?”

“Didn’t your Aunty Elena date both your Uncle Stefan  _ and  _ Uncle Damon? They’re brothers.”

The red-head had nothing to say to that. Penelope was biting back a laugh at how speechless the girl was and she just bounced her shoulders. “Can’t blame a girl for worrying.” 

“Yeah yeah, you spending the night or not?”

She hummed in agreement as she made a move to the bathroom when she remembered the gift she purchased Hope just earlier. It all made sense now.

How even though Hope wasn’t a big reader, she still ate up the cheesy romance stories that Penelope gave to her. 

_ Lizzie’s a hopeless romantic at heart. _

A lopsided smirk tugged at her lips as she dropped the book into the other girl’s lap.

“You’re more of a sap than I am, Mikaelson.”

++

**_Josie_ **

_ Everything okay? _

**_Me_ **

_ Only a split lip and broken arm. I’ve had worse in juvie. _

**_Josie_ **

_ Ha-ha, very funny. I’m serious though, you had me worried when you left the other day. _

Two days passed since Penelope had dinner with Josie and the confrontation with Hope. She didn’t get a chance to update the brunette the morning after because she overslept and had to rush to work. Then work was even more busy than usual because loads upon loads of high school students wanted to get their orders in for homecoming.

How was it already fall? 

She thought back to the beginning of summer, when she first delivered that bouquet of roses to Josie and then later running into her at the bookstore. All those orders, all those poems… all those conversations with Raf that made her wish she never agreed to writing in the first place. 

Every week that passed when she  _ didn’t  _ have to see him in person was probably the best thing to happen to her. 

**_Me_ **

_ All good. Hope and I talked everything out. _

_ Are you busy tonight? _

Josie’s response came in seconds later.

**_Josie_ **

_ Why? Gonna take me out on a date? _

Penelope’s fingers froze over the keyboard in shock. Did she read that right? All her promises to herself that she wouldn’t flirt with Josie was hard when the girl acted like  _ this  _ towards her. She thought out a few  _ platonically appropriate  _ responses in her head. Friends flirt, right? 

Technically, she didn’t initiate the flirting. Josie did, and she didn’t want Josie to feel awkward or anything if Penelope replied wrongly. 

**_Me_ **

_ I do owe you dinner. How does pizza sound? _

The next response took an agonizing five minutes.

**_Josie_ **

_ Can’t wait.  _

Today was one of Penelope’s days off so she didn’t have the convenience of work to distract her. She intended for the day to be full of productivity; laundry, cleaning and grocery shopping. But now with the promise of a date with Josie later tonight, that was all she could think about as she started folding some clothes.

While just the combination of the words ‘date’ and ‘Josie’ together in regards to her was enough to rattle her nerves, she was also nervous about conversation topics. Were they going to talk about her relationship with Hope? What about her sister? 

And also the ever pressing question at the back of her mind,  _ if the crush was enough to affect her relationship with her sister, would it be enough to affect theirs? _

It was a silly thought. While Penelope was mostly concerned with the effect on the pipedream that was a romantic relationship with Josie, she was scared for their friendship too. Hope was an easy person to get along with once you’ve broken past her stoic and slightly irritable demeanor. Not to mention she is also an amazing friend.

And Josie’s already done that. Sure, their friendship was from years ago but something in her just knew that didn’t matter.

Of course, Lizzie was still a factor too; she didn’t forget that. From the way Hope’s eyes lit up and how her lips curled into a smile as she talked about the blonde, that girl was a goner. But then, how would  _ that  _ affect Josie and Lizzie’s relationship? 

Josie was adamant about the hatchet being buried and that that didn’t matter anymore, but did it? Penelope’s seen more than her fair share of romcoms thanks to Hope (and Jed). She knew there was always the chance that feelings could resurface after seeing one another again. 

Overthinking was obviously one of Penelope’s faults. This showed in the fact that she spent nearly an hour running through all the possible situations that could take place meanwhile the basket of laundry at her feet went untouched.

With a sigh, she blasted some music on her phone and focused to the best of her ability on folding the damn bedsheet. 

++

It was hours later when she got a text from Josie saying that she was off work and about to head home so Penelope mentally took stock of her day. Despite the slight hiccup that wasted an hour of her day, she got a lot done. The laundry was washed, dried and folded. Groceries were bought for the week and then some and she dusted both her room and the living room. The bathroom was left for Jed this time around.

**_Penelope_ **

_ What toppings would you like? _

**_Josie_ **

_ Anything that even resembles a piece of meat. _

**_Penelope_ **

_ Whew. Long day? _

**_Josie_ **

_ I’ll tell you when you get here. _

Wasting no time, Penelope started to get ready. She showered, brushed her teeth twice, spent way too much time applying her makeup and even longer picking out an outfit. Once she was content with how she looked, she sped off to grab the pizzas before heading over to Josie’s. 

The drive over was quick. Most of it spent thinking about her every move. How was Penelope supposed to greet her? A handshake? A hug? That thing where they kiss each other on the cheek? Who even thought that was a good idea anyway? It’s just a cheap shot to kiss someone--

Oh. 

_ I’m here already? _

With every step up the stairs that brought her closer to Josie’s door, the more nervous she got. She prayed that evidence of her anxiousness wasn’t obvious on her face and that she was doing a better job of hiding it than she thought. She knocked on the door with three sharp raps and the door swung open just seconds later.

As usual, Josie looked amazing. Her hair was down today in curls that framed her face, and she was dressed casual in a T-shirt and jeans. Only Josie could look amazing in a simple T-shirt and jeans.

“Thank God, I’m starving.” She stepped to the side so Penelope could enter the apartment.

“I can’t tell if you’re more happy to see me or the pizzas,” She cringed internally as she realized her slip up. There goes another dollar into the stupid ‘No Flirting!’ jar Jed forced her to make.

“It’s a toss up.” Josie shouted from the kitchen, most likely grabbing plates and drinks. She took the opportunity to make herself comfortable; removing her coat, opening the two boxes of pizzas and finding the spot that she was going to park herself in for probably the rest of the night.

“Ask me again after I’ve eaten a slice or two,” Green eyes glanced up at Josie as she walked back into the room, two bottles of water in one hand and two sodas in the other. Her eyes followed the brunette up until she plopped down right next to her. Penelope tried not to read too much into how close they were to each other.

Neither spoke for a good five minutes once they started eating. Both of them were enjoying their food too much but still managed to offer quiet grunts and nods in place of speaking.

A few more minutes passed when Josie decided to break the silence. 

“So…. how are things?”

Penelope quirked a brow at her mid-bite. 

Josie rolled her eyes. “You were kind of losing it when you left my apartment, mumbling to yourself about how you were gonna kill Hope…” She hesitated, her fingers picking absentmindedly at her slice. “Did you talk to her?”

Penelope pressed her lips together both to keep herself from freaking out because she didn’t even  _ know  _ that she was mumbling like that, and to keep the bitterness down. “Yeah, I did.” She finally managed.

Josie just looked at her with an arched brow wordlessly. She didn’t say anything which meant that she wanted Penelope to elaborate. 

“She said she didn’t know the Josie that I knew was the same as the one she knew,” She hesitated. She didn’t know if it was her place to mention Hope and Lizzie’s relationship. Penelope already knew that Josie had no idea the two were seeing each other and the last thing she wanted was to cause another rift between the two.

“Have you talked to Lizzie?” She asked cautiously.

To her surprise, Josie nodded with a smile. “We had a call on my way home from work.”

Now it was Penelope’s turn to arch a brow. “And?”

“And,” Josie shrugged. “I’m happy for them. I was a little upset that Lizzie was in contact with Hope this whole time, she was my friend too y’know?” Penelope nodded. “But ultimately I understood why she didn’t tell me.” 

“Why is that?”

The brunette slouched down in her spot so that her head was laid back on the cushion. Her hands, now clean, were fiddling around with Penelope’s fingers. Friends do that, right?

“She likes Hope and Hope likes her, I was always kind of in the way of them becoming something because they didn’t want to hurt me. If I wasn’t in the know, then they’d be free to explore whatever it is they have. Sure, the way they went about it was kind of shitty but it’s not like I wouldn’t have done the same, not to mention I don’t even know a different way to go about it. I can’t stay mad at that, my feelings for Hope went away years ago anyway. I’m just happy that my sister is happy. Besides,” She turned on her side so that her body was facing Penelope’s, one hand still on hers while the other propped up her head.

They made eye contact before Josie confessed something that made Penelope’s stupid heart sink.

“I have feelings for someone else.” 

++

“So she isn’t mad?” Hope asked incredulously.

Lizzie nodded, disbelief written all over her expression. “She was a little at first though. She said that you were her friend too and that she missed you. I feel bad for purposefully not telling her but,” The blonde bit her lip. “Things ended up working out.. And she understands and…”

Hope reached across the console that separated the two of them in her car. With their fingers entwined, Hope gave her hand a squeeze. 

“I’m just so glad that she’s not mad. I’m even more glad that she’s  _ happy  _ for us,” 

Hope couldn’t help but mirror the shy smile that the beautiful girl that held her heart had on her face. “I’m happy too. I’m glad that we don’t need to hide things from her anymore too, I did miss hanging out with Jo.” 

The both of them leaned in to share a few chaste kisses until Lizzie pulled back. “Maybe we can double date; you and me, her and your friend.” 

The red-head furrowed a brow in confusion. “My friend?”

Lizzie nodded. “The one that’s always delivering her flowers?” 

Hope, still confused, just stared at her. “How do you know about Penelope?”

Lizzie rolled her eyes in annoyance. 

“Because Jo literally never shuts up about her. You know she has a massive crush on that girl, right? She kind of broke things off with Raf for her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...so I hit a wall, figuratively lol. I was writing and just had some trouble deciding the order of chapters and how things should go so and while I still haven't figured it out yet nor did I finish up the story, I felt bad for making ya'll wait so long! So here's a chapter to hopefully hold ya'll over while I deal with my turmoil. 
> 
> Can ya'll believe it's been (almost) a year since the pandemic? The US needs to get a grip!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! It is I, starting a new fic when I should be continuing my other one hehe. I hope you all are well! I simply just couldn't help myself when I came across this prompt in the midst of trying to muster up some inspiration for Innovation Strategies and a desperate need for distraction. I had a loss in the family recently and while I intended to write fluff, I ended up wanting more angst?? Probably bc I just finished reading Charon Docks at Daylight which if you've read, is like 90% angst. 
> 
> And yes, Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend is a real book. I wish I was lying. 
> 
> If you have any questions or just wanna complain about how terrible the writing in Legacies is, you can find me on tumblr now! @youresomoneybby (idk how to do hyperlinks here)
> 
> (also if this has been done before then just ignore me)


End file.
